The candidates vying to represent state Assembly District 45 offered sharply different views on gun control, street repairs and transgender issues at a forum in Woodland Hills on Monday night. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

Ten candidates took part in the debate at California Lutheran University. Voters head to the polls in a special election next week to represent this section of the central San Fernando Valley.

While the candidates largely found common ground on topics like Proposition 13 and the decriminalization of marijuana, disagreements quickly surfaced.

Even with slight improvements in the economy, the labor movement in Los Angeles continues to face challenges in 2013, fighting to keep what it has and head off renewed efforts to scale back salaries and pensions. Daily News

At the same time, the L.A. labor movement is being singled out for its work in organizing new workers, immigration reform and other social issues that have helped it gain new power.

“The power I’m looking for is the power to change and get working people out of poverty,” said Maria Elena Durazo, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, an umbrella group with some 600,000 members from unions throughout the region.